Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [37]
Not everyone supports the antiwhaling movement. Whaling seems to have become part of our national pride – we have a long tradition of not letting others dictate our actions. And in light of the economic downturn, we seem to be having a bit of an identity crisis (so it’s no surprise that the summer of 2009 was a bloody one for whales). Local politicians and journalists – who worked at Hvalfjörd’s whaling station some 40 years ago – bolster the notion of a lucrative whaling tradition and the ‘wonderful times of yore’. It is interesting to note, however, that Norwegians operated most of the early whaling stations in Iceland – Icelanders used to complain, citing bad smells and heavy pollution.
In October 2009, 26 nations – including the US, UK, Australia, France, Sweden, Spain and Germany – organised a formal diplomatic demarche against whaling in Iceland. (These are some of the countries that import many of our products, but Icelanders didn’t seem to make the connection.) An ad was placed in Iceland’s biggest journal with photos of individuals from all 26 countries urging people to re-think the issue. Supporters in Iceland (including myself) tried to organise a similar demonstration using Icelanders, but we couldn’t get enough local people to speak up against whaling.
In a way, protesting whaling in Iceland is like coming out of the closet. Most people try not to think about our whaling practices, focusing instead on the fallacy that the industry must be profitable since it continues to exist. Asking Icelanders whether or not they support whaling can often feel like asking a local whether or not they support Iceland.
When I see a dead whale I cannot help but think that Iceland is disrespecting nature by not stopping the killings. These are the second largest animals in the world; they’ve been swimming through the seas for millions of years. As I watch the hunters drag the mighty beasts into the station I am left utterly perplexed. Why is this happening?
Just 3kg of minke whale was exported by the end of the whaling season in 2009 – the rest remains virtually unused, locked away in massive freezers. I don’t understand.’
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Harnessing Natural Energy
Thanks to an abundance of green energy and a special allowance under the Kyoto protocol, Iceland attracts multinationals in search of cheap energy, and the Icelandic government seems keen to help out. Environmental campaigners foresee catastrophic environmental damage, while politicians and corporate big shots peddle promises of untold economic benefits and jobs for all (pretty appealing considering the current economic conditions!).
The most controversial scheme up to now is the Kárahnjúkar hydroelectric project in the Eastfjords. The project was the brainchild of Alcoa, the American aluminium smelter, and involved (and continues to involve) the construction of a network of dams, a vast reservoir, tunnels, a power station and high-tension lines to power their local smelter. According to Alcoa, it is cheaper to harness the power generated by damming the two rivers than it is to generate power by conventional methods. (Although it’s not cheaper than recycling existing aluminium products, which requires 5% of the energy it takes to produce new aluminium.) It’s the biggest construction project in Iceland’s history; Alcoa was named one of the top sustainable corporations at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and the promise of development has meant a surge in lucrative contracts to local support services. Construction, however, has devastated the starkly beautiful landscape and some marvellous natural phenomena that are found nowhere else on earth.
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During the 1950s and ’60s it was considered patriotic